Durham Report: FBI Had No 'Actual Evidence,' Relied on Trump Opponents

[SackMan518]

Durham Report: FBI Had No 'Actual Evidence,' Relied on Trump Opponents

 

The FBI lacked evidence to investigate Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and relied too heavily on tips provided by Trump's political opponents to fuel the probe, U.S. special counsel John Durham concluded in a report released Monday.

The report marks the end of a four-year probe launched in May 2019 when then-Attorney General William Barr appointed Durham, a veteran prosecutor, to probe potential missteps by the FBI when it launched its early stage "Crossfire Hurricane" inquiry into potential contacts between Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

That Crossfire Hurricane investigation would later be handed over to special counsel Robert Mueller, who in March 2019 concluded there was no evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.

In his new 306-page report, Durham concluded U.S. intelligence and law enforcement did not possess any "actual evidence" of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia before launching Crossfire Hurricane.

He also accused the bureau of treating the 2016 Trump probe differently from other politically sensitive investigations, including several involving Trump's Democrat rival Hillary Clinton.

"The Department and the FBI failed to uphold their important mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report," Durham wrote.

"Senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor toward the information that they received, especially information from politically affiliated persons and entities."

In the 306 pages, there were 340 mentions of the Clintons.

Durham's report was released to Congress on Monday without redactions, after it was delivered to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday.

His findings are likely to become political fodder for Trump, who is planning to run for reelection in 2024 despite facing criminal charges in New York and two federal investigations by special counsel Jack Smith that are looking both at Trump's retention of classified records and his role in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump had hoped Durham would release his report ahead of the 2020 election, in what he thought would be a blow to President Joe Biden's campaign.

But Durham's investigation has largely failed to produce meaningful impact, after two separate juries acquitted both defendants he tried to prosecute in 2022.

In one case Durham brought, a Washington, D.C., jury acquitted Hillary Clinton's former campaign attorney Michael Sussmann on charges he lied to the FBI when he met with the bureau in September 2016 to share a tip about possible communications between Trump's business and a Russian bank.

Durham's investigation was dealt yet another major set-back just a few months later, when a jury in Virginia acquitted Russian researcher Igor Danchenko of charges that he lied to the FBI when he was interviewed about the sources of information he provided that became part of a document known as the "Steele dossier."

That document, penned by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, made allegations about ties between Trump's 2016 election campaign and Russia and contained salacious details - many of which were never substantiated.

An investigation by the Justice Department's inspector general later found that the FBI improperly continued to rely on unsubstantiated allegations in the Steele dossier when it applied for court-approved warrant applications to monitor the communications of Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser.

Durham did secure a successful guilty plea against former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, who was singled out in the inspector general's report, for altering an email that was used to justify a government wiretap application for Page.

Durham's report Monday echoed many of the concerns the inspector general previously raised about the rigor of the FBI's process for applying to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for wiretap applications.

The FBI has since implemented numerous reforms to the process.

 

[LIBills]

Here come the fucking idiot leftists claiming extremist conspiracy terrorist theories in 3..3..1..

[Philly'sFinest]

Don't tell the leftist retards here...especially Hipkat

He still swears Trump is wUrKiN with Putin and Russia

LOL

[Very Wide Right]

Hillary, her campaign, the FBI, the "justice" dept. and the entire media all colluded to lie and distort to assist Hillary. Nobody will be held accountable. TRUMP was RIGHT again! McCabe, Strzok and Comey should all be prosecuted.

[Philly'sFinest]

The FBI is officially corrupt, and is dead as a once trusted agency working for the American people. 

Thank you, John Durham for exposing them for the criminals they are

[LIBills]

4 minutes ago, Very Wide Right said:

Hillary, her campaign, the FBI, the "justice" dept. and the entire media all colluded to lie and distort to assist Hillary. Nobody will be held accountable. TRUMP was RIGHT again! McCabe, Strzok and Comey should all be prosecuted.

That guy and sranky looks and mannerisms on his ugly fuckin face during those hearings made me wanna punch him right in his ugly fuckin face.

[SackMan518]

I'm a Time Traveler and I've already told these Leftists what was gonna happen in the future but they don't want to listen.

[Philly'sFinest]

 

Another important part of the report

[SackMan518]

12 minutes ago, Philly'sFinest said:

 

Another important part of the report

Yup, we already told the TDS Sufferers years ago but they didn't want to listen to us instead of heeding to deference in authority in the MSM who were bald lying liars selling a narrative for political warfare. It's criminal. Anyone who was really paying attention to what actually happens during the scam strategy saw that the MSM was a tool brainwashing so many low IQ believers. They know who they are, a whole list of Neanderthals on here like @f8ta1ity54, @HipKat, @212frawk

Take a bow for us all you marks!

[SackMan518]

The Durham Report
A quick analysis

 

Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation – an inquiry into government corruption, lies to secret courts, the weaponization of the US intelligence apparatus, the FBI’s attempt to take down a sitting president – has concluded.

The Durham Report has been released.

Here are some of the main findings:

• “The FBI discounted or willfully ignored material information that did not support the narrative of a collusive relationship between Trump and Russia.”
• Crossfire Hurricane “was opened as a full investigation without [the FBI] ever having spoken to the persons who provided that information.” Days after it was opened, Peter Strzok was telling a London FBI employee that “there’s nothing to this.”
• Internal FBI communications discussing the Crossfire Hurricane during its early stages: it’s “thin” and “it sucks”.
• British Intelligence pushed back on Mueller requests for assistance: “[a British Intelligence person] basically said there was no [expletive] way in hell they were going to do it.”
• Durham documents TWO investigations into Hillary Clinton - one involving the Clinton Foundation and one involving illegal foreign contributions to Clinton’s Campaign.
• In one Clinton Campaign investigation, an FBI confidential human source (CHS) had offered an illegal foreign contribution to the campaign through an intermediary. The Clinton Campaign was “okay with it” and “were fully aware”. The CHS offered the FBI a copy of the credit card charge; the FBI never got receipts. In fact, the FBI handling agent told the CHS “to stay away from all events relating to Clinton’s campaign.”

 

• In February 2016, FBI Assistant Director Andrew McCabe directed the Clinton Foundation investigation to be shut down. He walked that back after receiving push-back, but McCabe made sure that his approval was required for any further investigative steps.
• The New York Field Office was called on behalf of FBI Director Comey and informed to “cease and desist” from the Clinton Foundation investigation.
• The FBI and DOJ restricted both of those Clinton investigations, making sure that “essentially no investigative activities occurred for months leading up to the election.” In comparison, the FBI opened a full investigation into the Trump Campaign based on unvetted “intelligence”.
• The CIA had direct knowledge of the Clinton plan (“Clinton Plan”) to vilify Trump by linking him to Putin and Russia. On August 3, 2016, CIA Director John Brennon met with President Obama, VP Biden, and other senior Administration officials, including but not limited to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey. At that meeting, Brennan informed them of the Clinton Plan:

• In September 2016, the CIA sent the FBI this information on the Clinton Plan to link Trump and Russia:

 

• Somehow, the FBI did nothing to vet or investigate the Clinton Plan - even though they were using parts of the Clinton Plan (the Steele Reports) - to investigate the Trump Campaign. Durham writes: “No FBI personnel who were interviewed by the Office recalled Crossfire Hurricane personnel taking any action to vet the Clinton Plan intelligence.”
• In fact, it was as if the CIA’s Clinton Plan memo was somehow buried within the FBI. Most members of Crossfire Hurricane “had never seen the intelligence before”. And, as we have previously discussed, it was never disclosed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in contravention to that court’s local rules.
• FBI Director James Comey was deeply interested in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation and micromanaged it, demanding the Carter Page FISA warrant, telling Assistant Director Andrew McCabe: “Where is the FISA, where is the FISA?”
• The FBI knew, relatively early, that its Carter Page FISA warrants were dubious. That FBI knowledge only intensified by 2018, as FBI analysts discussed how “Steele’s subsources could have been compromised by the Russians.” They were going to prepare their findings in a memorandum. FBI Deputy Assistant Director for Counterintelligence, Dina Corsi, met with the review team and directed them not to document any recommendations, context, or analysis in the memorandum they were preparing.” An FBI attorney was at that meeting. “He confirmed that the team was told not to write any more memoranda or analytical pieces and to provide their findings orally.” Corsi’s demands, according to one FBI Attorney, were “the most inappropriate operational or professional statement he had ever heard at the FBI.”

 

• Igor Danchenko, the Steele primary subsource charged with (and acquitted of) lying to the FBI, was paid $220K by the FBI as a confidential human source. This was paid after the FBI knew Danchenko lied to them. As the Durham Investigation proceeded, Durham learned “the FBI proposed making continued future payments to Danchenko, totaling more than $300,000, while [Durham] was actively investigating this matter.” The FBI, in effect, was seeking to influence a key witness who would later face criminal charges.
• The FBI’s reasons for paying Danchenko were certainly curious. Interviews with Durham’s office revealed: “the FBI's Executive Assistant Director for National Security, made clear that they were not even able to accurately describe the value or contributions of Danchenko that would justify keeping him open, much less making hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to him.”

We’ll follow this up with a much deeper analysis hopefully by tomorrow. Part of that story is the problem with the Durham investigation: the fact that its scope didn’t include the attribution of the DNC hack.

 

 

 

 

[Toofast80]

“It’s all just conspiracy theory” 🤦‍♂️! Coming up next on the truth is revealed or shall I say what’s dismissed by the simples as today’s “conspiracy theories”!?

[Woody]

Unless it came from a Leftist Homo Approved news source it never happened. 

 

[Philly'sFinest]

18 minutes ago, Woody said:

Unless it came from a Leftist Homo Approved news source it never happened. 

 

Yes

It matters none of the report or the evidence 

If it doesn't meet the standard of the leftist homos, it is to be dismissed/ignored entirely

[RichJ]

But Jan 6.

[SackMan518]

Hey, remember that guy who worked for Hillary that put out those bogus press releases about Trump collusion and other stuff? He's a national security advisor for Joe Biden right now.

[HipKat]

Awww, look at the Ranges' Conspiracy Central trying to find crumbs in a pile of nothing

Durham released his report finally today. Years and $6.5m wasted to tell us nothing of consequence over 300 pages.

Landed with even more of a dull thud than the Twitter Files.

Oh, and one of Trump's very best people, Rudy, now accused of sexual harassment.

[Woody]

WITCH HUNT!!!!

 

[Woody]

 

[SackMan518]

31 minutes ago, HipKat said:

Awww, look at the Ranges' Conspiracy Central trying to find crumbs in a pile of nothing

Durham released his report finally today. Years and $6.5m wasted to tell us nothing of consequence over 300 pages.

Landed with even more of a dull thud than the Twitter Files.

Oh, and one of Trump's very best people, Rudy, now accused of sexual harassment.

It must really suck watching a giant pile of manure stinking up since 2016 and you lapped it all up only to see you getting conned almost a decade of your life. Aww poor Greg! At least you could give us a mea culpa to try save some face. 

[HipKat]

7 hours ago, SackMan518 said:

It must really suck watching a giant pile of manure stinking up since 2016 and you lapped it all up only to see you getting conned almost a decade of your life. Aww poor Greg! At least you could give us a mea culpa to try save some face. 

No, my dude, you are the one who keep lapping up bullshit. This is just another example of the MAGA Republicans, searching for a little crumbs that they can try to cling to hit a big pile of nothing.

At best, this pointless investigation that turned out next nothing found some procedural errors in the FBI, most of which were already corrected before this report was released. 6 1/2 million dollars, four years and 300 pages that did not bring down the government like Donald Trump has been claiming for the whole time. Did not expose any corruption. Did not result in any meaningful indictments or prosecution. You guys have taken nothingburgers, and made them the main course at every MAGA get together in the country. 

Ron DeSantis was spot on the other day when he said that it’s time for Republicans to stop embracing a culture of losing! I mean, it’s beyond cringy to watch your side keep taking baseless lies and accusations and keep trying to put them out there as facts. The shrinking MAGA base is the laughingstock of this country. And everybody knows it except the MAGA’s.

Your side is the mark at a poker game.

[HipKat]

MAGA denial with name calling coming in 5… 4….

[micknaboz]

LMFAO at right wingers lapping up a nothing burger.

Fucking losers.

This is like all the millions  wasted investigating Hillary and coming up with nothing.

Fking losers!

You guys, as usual. got nothing.

Well at least you still have your Trump penis shaped teething rings to comfort your dumb asses.

 

[HipKat]

Typical MAGA BS.

Dipshit Bongino responding to someone denouncing White Supremacy in typical MAGA fashion

[Philly'sFinest]

10 hours ago, HipKat said:

Awww, look at the Ranges' Conspiracy Central trying to find crumbs in a pile of nothing

Durham released his report finally today. Years and $6.5m wasted to tell us nothing of consequence over 300 pages.

Landed with even more of a dull thud than the Twitter Files.

Oh, and one of Trump's very best people, Rudy, now accused of sexual harassment.

[micknaboz]

 

"However, over the course of more than 300 pages, the Durham Report doesn’t just fail to live up to Trump supporters’ expectations of a spectacular vindication; it manages to fail on every other level as well. Durham fails to rebut the previous findings from special counsel Robert Mueller or the Department of Justice’s inspector general. He fails to provide suggested changes that the FBI could make moving forward. He fails to acknowledge how much of the winking innuendo the report includes wasn’t proved in court. And, ironically, he fails to realize that his central argument includes a standard for politically charged investigations that Trump would absolutely hate to see put into practice.

 

Despite his scolding tone, there’s little advice for DOJ to shape up beyond generic admonishments to adhere to its mission statement. That’s in part because many of the missteps he raises have already been dealt with over the years, as the FBI said in a statement Monday. All of the substantiated claims that he makes were likewise previously acknowledged in a 2019 report from the department’s inspector general that found that despite some serious concerning mistakes, the Russia investigation was justified."